USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume III > Part 28
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John Scholes
JOHN SCHOLES.
P ENNSYLVANIA, as a State, stands out prominently among the sisterhood of the Union, both for her natural wealth and the eminence of her citizens. Being one of the "original thirteen," the Keystone State has played an active rôle in all matters of vital importance concerning the Federal Government, from the days of the Declaration of Independence to the present time. But it is more as a manufacturing center that Pennsylvania has gained fame throughout this country and abroad. Its industrial products are shipped to the four corners of the globe, and wherever any commodity bearing the Pennsylvania trade-mark reaches, it is recognized for its high quality and general excellence. The State's factories are famous everywhere for their enormous capacity and standard character of production, and Philadelphia, especially, has long been in the front rank of the manufacturing cities of the world. The establishment of William Scholes & Son, manufacturers of woolen and worsted yarns, occupying nearly half a block at Second Street and Indiana Avenue, is one of the most extensive plants of its kind in the entire State. Equipped with all the modern mechanical appliances, it has an output of 50,000 pounds of yarn per week. John Scholes, the head of the firm, has been actively identified with its interests since its inception, nearly half a century ago, and it is to him, more than anyone else, that the signal success of this concern is to be attributed. Entering the mill in an humble capacity, he determined to learn the business in every detail, going from one department to another, until he had mastered the establishment in its entirety, and had gained the confidence of his father to the extent of being admitted as a partner. Since then he has been steadfast in his devotion to the enterprise, and untiring in its
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behalf. Under his able management it has kept pace with the progressive trend of the times, and now figures among the most prominent yarn manufactories of the country.
JOHN SCHOLES was born in Lancashire, England, in 1836. His father was William Scholes, and his mother Sarah Scholes, both parents coming to the United States in 1840, where, ten years later, the father established the business of manufacturing woolen yarn, starting a plant on a small scale at Sixth Street and Columbia Avenue. John Scholes received his rudimentary education in the common schools of Delaware County. Even before he had reached his fourteenth year he had left school and entered the textile business, where he obtained that practical and thorough knowledge of business affairs which has since distinguished his career. About 1850 he entered his father's establishment, and, by his untiring energy and zealous and faithful discharge of all duties assigned to him, he proved of great assistance to his father, gaining his entire confidence. In 1870, having demonstrated his thorough capability and a natural aptitude to fill positions of responsibility and trust, he was admitted into partnership, the firm assuming the name of William Scholes & Son. Under his careful supervision and direction, the business of the concern gradually increased, and it was not long before the old plant was found to be inadequate for its requirements, and a removal made necessary. Accordingly, the firm took a more commodious plant at Carl and Adams streets. Here Mr. Scholes inaugurated many improvements in every department, and largely increased the manufacturing facil- ities. Under his tactful supervision and constant attention, it was but natural that the business continued to increase, and it was foreseen that even the large plant at Carl and Adams streets would ultimately prove insufficient for the needs of the business. In the meantime, in 1884, the father and founder of the organization died, and the entire management of the immense plant devolved upon his son. By the death of his father John Scholes sustained a great loss, but with that untiring perseverance and tenacity of purpose which have character- ized him since his early boyhood, he assumed complete control of the organization's affairs, becoming the senior member and head of the firm. So aggressive and successful was the management that marked
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the business in his hands that a second removal had to be made, to meet the demand upon the firm's facilities. The change was effected in 1885, when the plant was transferred to its present spacious quarters at Second Street and Indiana Avenue. In the same year Mr. Scholes admitted his brother, Joseph, to the firm, which still, however, retained the old name of William Scholes & Son. Occupying almost half a block in area, the structure is equipped with every improved modern appliance for the manufacture of woolen and worsted yarns, and affords ample room for all needed results.
John Scholes has evidenced his progressive temperament by keeping abreast of the times, and whenever the practicability and worth of any invention or mechanical device was satisfactorily demon- strated, he made use of it in his plant. A true estimate of the great growth of the establishment of William Scholes & Son may be gained when it is stated that, from an annual output of 75,000 pounds of yarn in 1870, it has increased to 2,500,000 pounds at the present time, almost averaging, in the production of one week in 1897, that of a twelvemonth a quarter of a century back.
Mr. Scholes has never connected himself with any other organi- zation, preferring rather to devote all his attention to the management of his own business. Being, however, interested in the welfare of Philadelphia from a commercial standpoint, he has allied himself with that well-known organization of business men and manufacturers, the Trades League of Philadelphia, of which he has been a member for some time. Mr. Scholes is a Republican by faith, but, as his establish- ment has invariably demanded all of his time, he has manifested no active interest in the management of party affairs and has never held office. Mr. Scholes is a Vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Simeon and a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church Convention.
LOUIS SCHUTTE.
N the moulding of such a great and prosperous Com- monwealth as the State of Pennsylvania, the sciences have played an important part. That of engineering has necessarily been a considerable factor. Without the light brought to bear by inventive minds, trained to conquer material perplexities, the step of progress would be slow, indeed, if not often attended with dire uncertainty. Every inven- tion has advantages that may be used for the benefit of mankind, and it is frequently in a thorough mastery of mechanism that true genius finds its best and truest play. While the ingenuity of the native American has become proverbial, and the splendid results of such clever handiwork take precedence abroad as well as at home, it is no uncommon occurrence that scientific men of foreign birth and rearing, like Louis Schutte, the subject of this sketch, achieve well-earned fame after settling in the United States, with Pennsylvania as the axis of their successes.
LOUIS SCHUTTE was born near Hanover, Germany, his ancestry on both his paternal and maternal sides being North Germans. His boyhood days were without incident other than the happenings attend- ing the average lad of that day. He went through all the grades of the public schools and, after graduating with honor, was appren- ticed to a machinist to acquire practical experience in that vocation. A hard and conscientious worker, always willing to listen to the advice of his superiors, and ever eager to accept any hints from his fellow-artisans, he made rapid rise in his trade. Meanwhile, for three years, he was prepared by private tuition for admittance to the Col- lege of Engineering at Hanover. He was a model student, and so assiduously did he devote himself to his studies that he graduated
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from that institution in 1862, with the highest commendation from his teachers. For the succeeding eight years he practiced his pro- fession in Hamburg, Germany, and later in London, England, in the various capacities of draftsman, constructor, inspector of machinery and manager of office, as well as in superintending the building of bridges, lighthouses, railroad stations and sugar mills. All this expe- rience helped in a great measure to give him a thorough acquaint- ance with the science of engineering. The theory acquired at school he greatly improved and enlarged upon in practice ; indeed, early in his life he showed signs of becoming a leader among his fellows. It was at this period in his career that, like many other intelligent and energetic young pioneers, hampered by the discouragements of European restrictions, he cast his eyes toward the land of freedom and promise across the Atlantic. America was to him a book of opportunities, to open which his hands were anxiously stretched. He came to the United States in 1870, for the purpose of establishing business and with the special object in view of making the " moving of air, gas and water by induced current" a positive and profitable fact. Adverse conditions caused a delay until 1874, when the inten- tion was consummated and he started in the business at Tenth Street and Columbia Avenue, Philadelphia. It has been through ceaseless and intelligent investigation, combined with patient and constant experiment, that Mr. Schutte has succeeded in bringing this branch of engineering to its present high standard. In 1877 the business was removed to the corner of Twelfth and Thompson streets, the pres- ent location. It was here that prosperity first came to encourage him. After enlargement from time to time, the old buildings were torn down to make room for the increase in business, and in 1891 the present factory, especially designed for the requirements of the work, was built on the old site. The original specialty has been continued to the present day and now embraces all machinery of that character-injectors, condensers, exhausters, blowers, etc., with various machinery and the intricate mechanism used in connection therewith, and which now finds application in industrial establish- ments of nearly every description. With the exception of the Gif- fard invention and of the application of injectors as boiler-feeders,
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Mr. Schutte has been the pioneer in this country for the general application of jet apparatus, the same as his friend, E. Korting, the well-known engineer of Hanover, Germany, has been for the coun- tries on the other side of the Atlantic. And it may here be mentioned that the old friendship and business connection that existed between the two when they began their industrial careers together twenty-five years ago still continues, being made indissoluble through years of mutual helpfulness. In fact, the development of this parti- cular branch of science is due to a great extent to their combined persevering work and their interchange of new applications and results. No sooner has an improvement been made by one than it has been transmitted to the other. Distance only served to strengthen the chain of friendship, with the result that two nations have felt the beneficent influence of a generous and intelligent welding of ideas.
Mr. Schutte is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He is a member of the Union League, Manufacturers' Club, Union Republi- can Club, Engineers' Club and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has been twice married, his first wife being Annie Hildreth, to whom he was wedded in 1881. After her death, he was married, in 1896, to Mary Dewees Moffatt, daughter of the late Capt. Isaac F. Moffatt, of the United States Army.
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ADOLPH SEGAL.
A S a rule, clear-sighted men of other lands and climes, in visiting this country for the first time, are vividly impressed by the tremendous business possibilities existing here. Many of them, particularly attracted by the progressiveness of the Keystone State, after ripe consideration, show their superior intelligence in making Penn- sylvania the arena of their exertions and triumphs. To this latter class belongs the subject of this review, Adolph Segal, whose wide and far-reaching interests extend throughout a number of States, with Pennsylvania as the hub of action.
ADOLPH SEGAL was born, August 14, 1857, at Ostrolenka, Austria, and was one of several children born to Helena and Berl Segal, the latter a well-known farmer and large landed proprietor. He received a thorough elementary education in the schools of Ostrolenka, where he rapidly developed marked linguistic ability, speaking, fluently, German, French and English, besides a number of local dialects. After the completion of his preliminary studies, at the age of seventeen, he entered a school of architecture and mechanics. When he had finished the latter course he began, at the advice and suggestion of his father, an extended tour through Europe. Upon reaching Liverpool, which was beyond the limit originally set for his travels, Mr. Segal found his desire to see the world still unsatisfied, and, rather unexpectedly to himself, and to the surprise of his family, he determined to visit America. At the age of twenty-three, in 1880, he landed in New York City, and soon after moved to Philadelphia, where he settled with the intention of permanently engaging in business. His first venture was the building of a plant for the manufacture of waxed paper, which eventually
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developed into the largest waxed-paper mill in the United States. He also devoted a great deal of time and energy to other building and manufacturing enterprises, constructing, within a short period, over four hundred dwelling-houses in the cities of Philadelphia and Camden. A marked feature of Mr. Segal's business capacity is his extreme versatility, which has led him from time to time to engage in a great number of totally different manufacturing enterprises. He was at one time engaged in conducting eighteen separate under- takings of this class, building his own plants and personally con- ducting them with his own capital. Some of these are notable for their great size, being among the largest manufacturing plants of their class in the East. Probably the most prominent, if not, indeed, the largest building which he has constructed, is the United States Sugar Refinery in Camden, New Jersey, recently passed under the control of the Sugar Trust. He also established, and still operates, the United Match Factories of Camden, which, since their inception, have constituted the principal rival of the great Match Trust. He has further built the largest plants for the manufacturing of artificial ice in this section, as well as a number of immense mills for the manufacturing of paper.
Mr. Segal recently purchased the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine and Beattyville Railroad in Kentucky, now the Louisville and South- eastern Railroad, which forms an important link in the several railroad systems centering at Versailles in that State. He is extending his line in Southeastern Kentucky, a distance of thirty-six miles, in order to open large coal deposits and coking fields. He is also sole owner of the Knoxville and Bristol Railway, over forty miles in length, and is at present engaged in operating, as sole owner, over one hundred miles of railroad lines. He has further interested himself quite extensively in the erection and operation of breweries in a number of States in the Union.
Mr. Segal was married in 1881, his wife being an accomplished American lady, well known among her acquaintances as a finished and thorough musician. They have one child, a boy, Berl, fourteen years of age. Mr. Segal resides in the magnificent mansion, No. 1202 North Broad Street, Philadelphia. This beautiful house ranks as one
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of the handsomest private dwellings in the city, and adjoins the palatial residence at the northwest corner of Broad Street and Girard Avenue, recently donated to the city of Philadelphia for a public library. 1
Mr. Segal is in the forty-first year of his age. His many friends unite in testifying to his strong personality, genial disposition and frank courtesy. Among the younger business men of the community he ranks high for tenacity of purpose, clear-sightedness in matters affecting a business proposition, and in the courage, both personal and pecuniary, with which he undertakes the most responsible business and monetary enterprises, despite the tremendous and incessant calls upon his time which his wide and varied interes.s necessitate and demand.
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BENJAMIN H. SHOEMAKER.
ENJAMIN H. SHOEMAKER was born at Shoema- B kertown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 27, 1827. His parents were Richard M. Shoemaker and Amelia Bird. His ancestors came to this country upon the invitation of William Penn, when he was traveling in Germany in 1680. The family arrived in 1686 and settled in Cheltenham Township, there farming several hundred acres of land. Benjamin H. Shoemaker came to Philadelphia in 1848 as an apprentice to his brother, Robert Shoemaker, who was a well- known druggist. He had decided to learn the drug business, and set about doing so in such a thorough manner that only four years later, in 1852, he became a partner of the concern, the firm being Robert Shoemaker & Company, on North Second Street. In 1856 the firm removed to the northeast corner of Fourth and Race streets, and was dissolved in 1865, Robert Shoemaker, with his sons, William M. and Richard M., remaining in the drug and paint business, while Benja- min H. Shoemaker continued business in the adjoining building, Nos. 205, 207 and 209 North Fourth Street. He has there con- ducted the plate glass and window glass industry, which has made his name extensively known throughout the country. The partners now are his sons, Robert Shoemaker, Jr., Benjamin H. Shoemaker, 2d, and Charles H. Wagner. It is not alone, however, through Mr. Shoe- maker's connection with this, one of the oldest glass firms in the country, that he is chiefly known, but through his connection with the Pennsylvania Hospital he has largely become prominent in public affairs.
That great institution has enjoyed the support, since its incorpora- tion in 1751, the first of its kind founded in America, of some of the
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greatest men of the nation. Since 1866 Mr. Shoemaker has been one of the Managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital, for more than nineteen years being Secretary of its Board. This long course of excellent service reached its culminating point in May, 1891, when he was elected President of the Hospital, an office which, from its foun- dation, has been considered one of the highest posts of honor in the State of Pennsylvania. In the six or seven years during which he has administered the affairs of the Hospital as its President, Mr. Shoe- maker has advanced it along the most progressive lines, endeavoring at all times to interest the contributors and the general public, and members of the medical and surgical professions, by advocating the introduction of modern appliances and conveniences for the treatment and comfort of patients.
For many years Mr. Shoemaker has been a Director in the Con- solidation National Bank. In 1873 he was elected a Director of the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad Company, and since 1887 he has been President of that organization. As chief official of this road he has displayed the same marked ability for the direction of large official enterprises as that which has characterized his own busi- ness dealings. He has been a Director, since its organization, in the Mortgage Trust Company of Pennsylvania, and was for several years a Director of the Nesquohoning Valley Railroad Company, and for twenty years he has been a Director of the Glasgow Iron and Steel Company, of Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Not alone through his connection with the Pennsylvania Hospital is Mr. Shoemaker known in public affairs, but he is identified with many other interests of a charitable nature. He was for ten years Treas- urer of the Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity. He was also for ten years President of the Germantown Horticultural Society; is a Manager of Haverford College, and an Overseer of the William Penn Charter Schools, founded by the father of the Commonwealth in 1683. His ancestors for six generations have been, like himself, recorded members of the Abington Monthly Meeting of Friends, established, in 1683, in Cheltenham Township, then Philadelphia County.
Mr. Shoemaker resides in Germantown, where he has a family.
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He was married at the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of Friends for the Northern District in 1856, to Susan Brinton Trump, daughter of Michael and Maria Brinton Trump. They have had five children, Robert Shoemaker, Jr., Mrs. Maria Brinton Kimber, Dr. Samuel B. Shoemaker, Mrs. Amelia Bird S. Wharton, and Benjamin H. Shoe- maker, 2d. Doctor Shoemaker, his second son, a graduate of Haverford College and University of Pennsylvania, and Physician of the out-patient staff of the Pennsylvania Hospital, died in 1893, leaving one son, S. Brinton Shoemaker.
Mr. Shoemaker is a member of the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, and is a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences. He was also enrolled on the Committee of One Hundred.
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JOHN B. SMITHMAN.
IL CITY, a pleasant town of 16,000 inhabitants, with 0 five railroads, is located on the Allegheny River, in Venango County, and was started in 1860 by the discovery of petroleum in quantity near the present site. In Oil City it is a general saying that John B. Smithman, the subject of this sketch, has done more for it than any other resident.
JOHN B. SMITHMAN was born in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1844. His father, Henry Smithman, in 1826, at the age of ten, came from Hanover, Germany, to Baltimore. His mother, Agnes Wagner, in infancy came from Wurtemburg to Philadelphia. In 1865 his parents removed from Clarion County to Piqua, Ohio. Mr. Smithman's early life was spent on a farm and he attended the country schools three months in a year. In 1861-62 he attended High School at Shippenville, in 1862 starting out for himself to teach district school. In 1863 he went to Oil City, a stranger without means, and the next year drifted into the oil business, first as a dealer in a small way, afterward as a buyer of oil for John Munhall & Com- pany. In 1876 he was the owner of the "Ragged Edge" well, at Edenburg, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he followed the oil excitement to Bradford, and in 1885 was interested in the Cogley Oil Field, Clarion County. To-day his oil interests are in Venango County. He was largely interested in the Speechley Gas Field, near Oil City, and in gas wells in Allegheny County.
During this time Mr. Smithman was also in the speculative trade, and in 1875 was the Secretary and a Director of the Oil City Oil Exchange, and one of its incorporators, in 1877, being selected to formulate the system of rules and regulations adopted by that body to
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govern the large and growing business in petroleum. In 1882 he was the author of a plan by which the speculative dealings of the members were settled daily by a Clearing House, the first time in history that the settling by balances was applied to dealings and deliveries of speculative commodities ; and this idea and plan were subsequently adopted by the stock and other exchanges throughout the country. In 1883 the oil trade inaugurated a movement to examine the accounts of the Standard Oil Company's pipe lines and gauge its oil stocks to settle the question, then raised, whether the large number of oil certi- ficates issued by these pipe lines, and bought and sold by the oil trade, were issued against oil actually in existence. Mr. Smithman, although an open opponent of the growing encroachments of the Standard Oil Company upon the trade, was, on account of his reputation for fair- ness, accepted as chairman of the committee to make the investigation. This examination was made to the satisfaction of all parties. The entire stocks of oil, over 34,000,000 barrels, were gauged on one day. In 1886 Mr. Smithman organized the Manufacturers' Gas Company for supplying natural gas in Oil City. After a war of cheap gas, last- ing two years, he merged his concern with the Columbia Gas Com- pany, of Franklin, in which he was also interested, and this, after an exhaustive campaign, became a part of the Natural Gas Trust. In 1887 Mr. Smithman was one of the leading spirits of the Keystone Pipe Line Company, that laid an oil line from the Cogley Oil Field to oil refineries near Oil City. In 1890 he secured a franchise for a street railway in Oil City, and being unable to make arrangements with the existing bridge companies for crossing the Allegheny River he, in 1891, secured the passage of an Act empowering street railways to build their own bridges. Governor Pattison vetoed it and Mr. Smith- man then applied for a charter to build a bridge near the other struc- tures, and, against strenuous opposition and to the surprise of the people, secured it. The bridge and the street railway were constructed in 1893, during the great panic of that year, and the employment con- sequently given to labor during this period of depression, the lowering of bridge tolls, and the fact that these enterprises engendered a feel- ing of permanency in the town, not before felt, are all gratefully remembered by the people of Oil City. In 1896 the street railway
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